4th Official Korea-Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations... Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy "Will Establish Basis for Agreement"

The government will hold the 4th official negotiations for the conclusion of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Mongolia from the 26th to the 29th in Seoul. The government plans to lay the groundwork for reaching an agreement through this negotiation.

The Trade Negotiation Headquarters of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 25th that a delegation of 100 representatives from both countries will participate in this negotiation, with Kwon Hye-jin, Korea's Free Trade Agreement Negotiator, and Batkhuu Idesh, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development of Mongolia, serving as chief representatives, respectively.

Through this third official negotiation of the year, both sides intend to conduct in-depth discussions in 19 areas including goods and services, investment, digital, government procurement, intellectual property rights, origin, and economic cooperation, aiming to establish a foundation for concluding the agreement.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained, "Mongolia is a resource-rich country with key resources such as rare earth elements and tungsten, and is known to be pursuing diversification of its trade relations, which have been concentrated with specific countries like China." The official added, "Through the conclusion of the Korea-Mongolia EPA, the government plans to increase exports of promising Korean products to Mongolia, strengthen entry into the service market, and promote investment expansion." Additionally, the plan includes establishing a legal and institutional framework for mineral and energy development and utilization cooperation between the two countries to further solidify the system for stabilizing supply chains of core resources for advanced industries.

At the opening ceremony, Jeong In-kyo, Head of the Trade Negotiation Headquarters, stated, "Korea and Mongolia have great potential for cooperation based on their complementary industrial structures. The EPA with Mongolia, one of the world's top 10 resource-rich countries and a major emerging market, is expected to greatly expand trade, investment, and corporate cooperation between the two countries in areas such as supply chains, logistics and infrastructure, and digital sectors." He added, "I hope the negotiation teams from both countries will pool their wisdom in this negotiation to swiftly conclude a mutually beneficial EPA agreement."